hand size snacks such as - popcorn, cheese, pickles, crackers, wasabi peas, Cheezies, or other nibbles - nuts with a vintage nutcracker are always a hit, make sure you have a bowl for the shells
ice, ice and more ice
cocktail napkins and regular napkins
coasters
vintage serving bowls
tea lights, candles, lighter
ice bucket or two
soda, tonic, juice (cranberry, orange, tomato), pop, cold flat or carbonated water
cocktail straws, cocktail picks
garnish - lemon, lime and good cocktail cherries (check what your drink recipes call for)
extra toilet paper
whiskey, bourbon, rye, rum, vodka, gin, dry and sweet vermouth, cognac, two bottles of both white and red wine, beer, bubbly
clean cloth to quickly wipe up spills
plenty of clean hand towels in the washroom
bottle opener and corkscrew
a game - personally I can't stand games but some people love them at parties
burgundy glasses, beer glasses, martini glasses, rock glasses, champagne flutes
I promise I won't say eco or upcycle. However, seeing as I'm of the make do mend persuasion a vintage silk scarf used to wrap a gift suits me just fine.
Voila - Japanese furoshiki. Interested in more techniques using scarves as wrapping, bags or apparel check out the furoshiki site.
The rubber hits the road regarding who's prepared to write the cheques to maintain this property. Where are they? Where are all these people? Who's prepared to come and make a concrete proposal? At the end of the day, unless you have the government standing behind these types of projects, someone has to pay for them.
So, who's with me on this? For purchase, necessary repairs, continuous maintenance, marketing and administration of the home, I suggest a goal of $5 million. Come by the Bijou Living Facebook page to share your ideas.
Read more of my Binning posts from the past three years by searching Binning at the top of the page.
"The rubber hits the road in terms of who's prepared to write the cheques to maintain this property," she said.
Fitzpatrick added that despite wide media coverage, no one besides Wall and Staples has stepped up with formal proposal to take over the house.
"Where are they? Where are all these people? Who's prepared to come and make a concrete proposal? At the end of the day, unless you have government standing behind these types of projects, someone has to pay for it."
- See more at: http://www.nsnews.com/living/11th-hour-offer-for-binning-house-1.759819#sthash.CSz5ES5i.dpuf
"The rubber hits the road in terms of who's prepared to write the cheques to maintain this property," she said.
Fitzpatrick added that despite wide media coverage, no one besides Wall and Staples has stepped up with formal proposal to take over the house.
"Where are they? Where are all these people? Who's prepared to come and make a concrete proposal? At the end of the day, unless you have government standing behind these types of projects, someone has to pay for it."
- See more at: http://www.nsnews.com/living/11th-hour-offer-for-binning-house-1.759819#sthash.CSz5ES5i.dpuf
Mr. and Mrs. Binning
Mr. Binning's studio with original works as well as unfinished ones. Image Stacy Reynaud
Binning's studio Image Stacy Reynaud
Note the high windows to let in the south sunlight on the upper left. Image Stacy Reynaud
The Binning's original Danish furnishings. Image Stacy Reynaud
South facing back yard. Image Stacy Reynaud
Mrs. Binning's room to the left, washroom centre and Mr. Binning's room and studio to the right.
The mural was hand painted by Mr. Binning
image Stacy Reynaud
Mr. Binning's studio. Image Stacy Reynaud
Original mid-century yellow ceramic tiles in the main washroom. Image Stacy Reynaud
Mrs. Binning's Bedroom - with all her belongings - would they be sent to the Salvation Army if the home was sold? Image Stacy Reynaud
Dining Room of the Binning Home with BC Studio Ceramics. Image Stacy Reynaud
Original address plate. Image Stacy Reynaud
Mrs. Binning's last entry in her day planner dated Friday May 27th 2007.
She died later that year at 101.
Image Stacy Reynaud
Front entrance with one of Binning's murals. Image Stacy Reynaud
Front entrance from the street.
Note the high windows. Mr. Binning's studio is to the right.
Image Stacy Reynaud
South facing back yard - view of Burrard Inlet beyond the mature trees - would they be destroyed to improve the view? Image Stacy Reynaud
The entire contents of the home belonged to the Binnings - where would it go if the home was sold to a private citizen? Image Stacy Reynaud
Back yard with trellis and original windows. Image Stacy Reynaud
Every kitchen needs a window. Private west facing kitchen window. Binning Kitchen.
Image Stacy Reynaud
Original kitchen cupboards in the Binning kitchen. Image Stacy Reynaud
Entrance hall - the Binnings were collectors of Japanese ceramics and BC studio pottery.
Image Stacy Reynaud
BC Binning's desk drawer - as he left it before he died.
When your hosting skills are brought to the test, don't fail.
Take your guest's coat. Don't put them on the bed.* Hang them up. Small, unrealistic closet? Rent a sales man's rack or invest in one (I have two).
Your guest's shoes are part of their outfit - allow them to keep them on. I bring fancy house slippers with me just in case the dreaded pile of shoes is at the door.
Offer your guest a drink after you've taken their coat and before they're more than five steps in the door. Tip: have non-alcoholic drinks (soda, tonic and juice), red wine, white wine, bubbles, beer, vodka, rum, rye, scotch, tequila, gin, sweet and dry vermouth and cognac. Don't forget fresh ice, cocktail napkins, lemons, limes, olives and cocktail straws.
Never introduce your guest's boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancee, spouse or whatever, as such. They have an identity of their own.
If you're a couple, work tag team. Lay out each of your defined 'duties' beforehand and cover each other's backs with refilling drinks, conversation starters, toilet paper and hand towel checks, lit candles, cleared plates and stocked ice.
Never let them see you sweat. As far as your guest is concerned you're already the monarch of the mingler - they don't need to see the dirty dishes. Get some of those big plastic crates with tops and hide your dirty dishes in there until the guests leave. Throw a table cloth over it and they'll never know. I used to hide stuff in the bathtub of my ensuite.
Accept that you'll have a guest that snoops in the medicine cabinet of your bathroom. You know what to do with that stuff.
To prevent guests from overstaying, lay out a start and end time in your invite. If there are still stragglers start unloading those crates with the dirty dishes in them.
* Back in the old days laying coats on the bed was considered faux pas due to bed bug infestations.
It's much easier to publish with one's pseudo-opposable thumb than ten digits.
I've had a month-long case of insomnia (brought on by stress), which in turn aggravates my moods - hence many Tumblrand Instagram posts but no blog updates.
Post ideas have been coming and going through my thoughts, but that's it.
Here are some things that have been floating around:
Have you watched the Upstairs Downstairs remake on Netflix? The set design and costumes - oh my cat - wrap me up in them! Those silk velvet gowns - purr.
How about Mr. Selfridge? We need more Roderick Temple.
Society women in Edwardian times
Gong meditation
Finding the perfect wasabi chickpea recipe
The phrase, 'Nothing personal, it's just business.' Screw that. Business is personal.
It took a few attempts with different recipes but I finally found a whipped coconut cream recipe (whipping cream made with coconut milk) that actually has the consistency of whipped cream. If you've tried making whipped coconut cream you know that you could stand there whipping it for an hour and you still wouldn't get it to peak.
I've made carob chia pudding with almond milk before and had been meaning to try it with coconut milk but never got around to it. Well thanks to Finding Veganand the Foodily app I was reminded.
So, here are two recipes that go perfectly together.
Chocolate Chia Pudding with Coconut Milk
What you need:
2 cups coconut milk
4 tbsp cocoa powder - to make it vegan use cacao
8 tbsp ground black chia seeds (I use the ground ones as they're not so crunchy)
sweetener of your choice (I used four tbsp sugar - ech it was way too much)
hand mixer
medium bowl
What you do:
Pour coconut milk into a medium size mixing bowl
Add the rest of the ingredients
Beat with a hand mixer until everything is blended
Cover and refrigerate for a few hours (I usually leave mine over night)
Serve cold topped with whipped coconut (cream recipe below)
optional sweetener or vanilla (I used one tbsp sugar)
hand mixer
medium bowl
What you do:
Put your bowl and beaters into the freezer an hour before you're ready to start whipping
Take the can of coconut milk out of the fridge and turn it over. The heavy cream will have lifted to the top of the can so when you flip it over the coconut water is on top and you can pour it out easily. Be careful not to lose any of the heavy cream.
Use a spatula to scrape the heavy cream from the can into the bowl you just took out of the freezer.
Put the frozen beaters onto the hand mixer and whip the cream at high speed for three minutes if you're adding sweetener add it after three minutes and beat for one or two more minutes. Total whipping time four/five minutes. The coconut cream should form peaks when you lift the beaters up.
Serves two - four
For the whipped coconut cream I followed this recipe. My recipe definitely didn't yield two cups of whipped coconut cream. Maybe a cup at the most. I left my can of coconut milk in the fridge for a week though because I didn't have time to make it the next day (or the next day, or the day after that).
**The next time I make this I'll add less sugar, or even skip it all together as my blood sugar levels after eating it made me feel like I was having a panic attack.
